Por Pasiones Asi

Spanish novelist and screenwriter Molina Temboury (Viaje a los dos Tibet [Journey to the Two Tibets], Aguilar, 2000) has devoted his career to fostering cultural cooperation between Spain and Latin America. He directed the Institute of Iberian American Cooperation in Buenos Aires in the late 1980s and Madrid's House of the Americas in the 1990s. Here, he tells the story of Andres Sebastian, a Spanish journalist covering social and political events in Buenos Aires, and his obsessive and consuming relationship with an exotic dancer. Sebasti n writes about the city's culture and tourist sites, but when it comes to recording the carapintadas' (painted faces') military revolt, he just watches the events unfold on television. In an interview, Molina Temboury has affirmed that it took him over 12 years to write about the events that he witnessed in Buenos Aires, and, as is evident here, his descriptions of the city and the historical period in question remain elusive. Sebasti n is also unable to grasp history, and his return to Spain is characterized as an escape from uncertainty. With this unusual approach to history, Molina Temboury effectively re-creates the overwhelming incompetence that usually grips those in the epicenter of important historical events. Because of the graphic sexuality and the philosophical probing, this book is best for an academic audience or serious readers. Mary Sarko, Madison, WI